Current research projects

Dr Oonagh Corrigan, a Senior lecturer in Public Health and on secondment to PARI, is conducting conducting research for North East Essex Health & Wellbeing Alliance exploring ‘vulnerable populations’ and the support they obtain from community assets in North East Essex. This project has now been extended to examine the impact of COVID-19 on older and vulnerable younger people who are currently undergoing lockdown and are no longer able to engage in their regular community activities. The final study report will be available in June.

Dr Ceri Wilson, Dr Julie Teatheredge (Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine & Social Care) and Dr Pauline Lane (PARI), are collecting the living histories of older people and clinically vulnerable people in our communities, so that we can record their memories and experiences during the pandemic.

Our colleagues in StoryLab are collecting the living histories of NHS workers and together these projects are building an ARU historical archive of ‘Life in a time of the coronavirus’.

These stories are important, not only as a record of life at this time but also by listening to the communities, we feel that there may be lessons to be learnt that could inform public sector planning in the future.